Are Potatoes a Lipid?

Potatoes are a good source of carbohydrates.

Very few foods consist of mostly lipids or only lipids, or fat, including vegetable oils, lard and butter. Potatoes are classified as a starchy vegetable, not a lipid, since most of their calories come from starch. Like most foods, potatoes contain a combination of fat, protein and carbohydrates.

Lipids

Lipids are used by your body as a form of storage for extra energy. Each gram of fat provides 9 calories worth of energy, compared to the 4 calories provided by a gram of protein or carbohydrate. You need fat to keep your skin and hair healthy and for absorbing fat-soluble vitamins from the food you eat. Your total intake of fats throughout the day should be limited to no more than 35 percent of your calories, with less than 10 percent of this fat coming from saturated fat and less than 1 percent consisting of trans fats.

Potato Composition

Potatoes contain very little fat. Russet potatoes consist of 74.5 percent water, 2.6 percent protein, 21.4 percent carbohydrate and 0.1 percent fat by weight. The majority of the 168 calories in a medium potato come from carbohydrates, with only 2 calories coming from fat and 18 coming from protein.

Types of Fat in Potatoes

While unsaturated fats are considered healthy and omega-3 and omega-6 fats are essential for good health, others types of fat, including trans fats and saturated fat, are unhealthy since they have adverse effects that increase your risk for heart disease. Most of the small amount of fat in potatoes is the healthy unsaturated fat. Each medium Russet potato contains 0.059 grams of saturated fat, 0.005 grams of monounsaturated fat and 0.097 grams of polyunsaturated fat.

Considerations

While potatoes themselves aren't full of fat, people often prepare them with fatty ingredients. Consider baking your french fries instead of frying them in oil, mashing your potatoes with chicken broth instead of cream and topping your baked potato with salsa instead of sour cream, cheese and butter. These changes will help keep your fat consumption close to the recommended amounts.